


Once Broken Ring

by saltyowls



Category: Julie and the Phantoms, jatp - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Loss, M/M, Music, Mutual Pining, Soulmate AU, soulmate ring au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28827666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltyowls/pseuds/saltyowls
Summary: Everyone on the world was born with a ring tied to their soulmate, except for Julie. But when a ghost boy band from the 90’s show up in her garage and her ring comes, what will she do?
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina's Mother/Ray Molina, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	Once Broken Ring

**Author's Note:**

> Now, the majority of dialogue is pulled directly from the show, so if you don’t like that don’t feel pressured to read it. My own touch’s are added though. Hope you enjoy!

I stared at my ring finger, feeling around like I always did when the days turned into late nights. In the world, everyone was born with a ring on their finger, it changes colour based on what emotion their soulmate is feeling, turns pink when you meet your soulmate, and black when your soulmate dies. 

I wasn't born with a ring. 

Everyone thought I was broken, unloveable. It took people a while to realize I just wasn't like them, not in that sense. And I was almost happy not having a soulmate. I couldn't imagine the way her dad felt when his ring fell off, the black dust falling to the hospital floor. 

JI laid in bed, thinking, until my dad walked in. "Julie, sweetie, we've talked about this. You can't stay up late thinking." 

I scooted over so my dad could lay beside me. "I know, but, it's hard, you know?"

"No, I don't know, but I'll help in anyway I can." Ray kissed the top of my head. "Now, go to sleep, you have school tomorrow." 

"Good night Dad. Love you." 

"Love you too, Julie." He shut the door when he left, incasing the room with moonlight. I laid back down again, falling asleep to the sound of the owl outside my window. 

When I woke up the next morning I never expected what was to come that day. So I went on with my day normally, getting up to school, making it through the day, making through the name calling and fake rings being thrown at me, until the last class of the day, music class. 

I walked the halls, red baseball cap pushed down over my eyes. I reached my locker and undid the lock as my best friend, Flynn, walked up. 

"Hey, underachiever."

"Hey, disappointment." 

"Ok, I know you don't want me to ask, but have you figured out what your gonna do today?" 

"I'll know in the moment." 

"Really, Jules?" Flynn stared at me, brown eyes digging under my skin. "That's all your giving me? Mrs. Harrison said this is your last chance."

"I know. I was there." Flynn sighed. We turned as a girl spoke. 

"See you at the rally!" The perky voice filled the hallway. 

"Ugh! What is she handing out?" Flynn asked, rolling her eyes. We watched our classmate, Carrie, hand out papers in a all pink outfit.

"Hi!" Carrie said to some boys passing by. 

"Desperation?" Flynn and I laughed. Carrie strutted towards us, heels klinking against the ground. 

She handed Flynn and I a flyer. "Here you go. My group's preforming at the spirit rally tomorrow. I'm sure you guys have nothing batter to do."

"Oh my gosh, Carrie. Thanks!" Flynn said sarcastically. 

"Oh my gosh, Flynn. Don't bother coming!" Flynn forced a smile as Carrie turned to leave. "Oh, and you, unlovable girl, you can stay home with her." 

Flynn crumbled the flyer up in a ball, stuffing it angrily in her backpack. I stared at a blonde boy, his back resting against a pillar. That was Nick. I've been crushing on him a long time now, even though we only had music class together. 

"Nick?" I turned her attention back to my friend. "Still! You know they're gonna get married and have a bunch of unholy babies. And plus, you know he has a different soulmate." 

"I know, but Nicks a sweetheart." 

"You'd actually have to talk to him to know that. And only one of them has to be a demon to make a demon baby." 

Flynn turned to Carrie and yelled "Demon!", we turned back to our lockers laughing. "There's that smile. Now, let's go prove everybody wrong." 

Flynn and I walked to class, sitting in the middle row. Music class was hard for the fact that my mom passed away but easier for the whole no-soulmate thing. The class was easy, each kid went up and showed their talent off. Nick was up now, his guitar riff filling the room. 

The class cheered as Nick finished, walking back to his spot beside Carrie, his girlfriend. 

"Good job, Nick. Almost as impressive as your win against Glendale." Mrs. Harrison said. "Ok, we have one last performance. Julie?" 

I stood up, shaking. I placed my hat on the chair and walked toward the piano, everyone's eyes on me. I opened the sheet music and sighed heavily as I sat down. 

"Take your time." Mrs. Harrison told me, voice quiet. I nodded, opening up the piano. I placed my hands on the keys, about to press down but pulled away before I could, breath hitching. I stood up. 

"I'm sorry." 

"Is this when we clap?" Carrie spoke. I walked away, tears threatening to fall. I couldn't let that happen, let people see me vulnerable. 

"Watch it, Carrie." Flynn spat before following after me. 

"Julie!" Flynn yelled. I was walking down the stairs when she caught up to me, stopping. "Girl, you better get back up here and show them you can sing!" 

"I've tried for myself. I've tried for Mrs. Harrison, I've tried for you, I've tried for Dad, and I've tried for Mom. For a whole year, I've been trying. But I can't do this anymore. I can't. I'm done." I turned back down the stairs, ignoring Flynn. The tears fell hard as I ran out. 

Later that day, I sat at her kitchen table, doing some homework. My glasses sat on my face, a yellow sweater put on top of the t-shirt I was wearing earlier. 

"Oh good, your home." My dad said, hopping down the stairs. I closed my homework and turned to look at my dad. "I was about to go watch your brothers game. I've had photo shoots all day. Didn't even get a chance to eat. But...I got a phone call today."

"Yeah, I figured as much." I put her glasses down. 

"Yeah. Well, it was my Realtor friend." 

"Oh, that." I couldn't tell if I was relived or even more nervous. 

"Yeah, and she says if we are serious about selling the house, then she wants me to take some pictures for the website. Which means we have to do a lot of cleaning and get rid of some stuff. And maybe you can.... tackle Mom's studio?" 

I leaned forward. "You're the expert. You know, your brother and I wouldn't even know where to begin. It's ok, honey. If your not ready, I-" 

"No. It's all right. Maybe I'll try tonight."

"Yeah?" Dad smiled, clapping his hands together. "Awesome, mijá. Thank you. Oh, and don't forget the loft. You know, those old instruments that were there when we moved in? They need a new home." 

"Mom would like that."

"Yeah, she would." My dad checked his watch. He started to feel around his pockets looking for his keys. "Oh god, I'm gonna be late." 

"Under the mail." 

He snapped his fingers at me, a smile on his face. "You're a lifesaver." With that he left. I turned back to my homework, and by the time I finished it all it was late, about an hour or so. I sighed, and headed to go do the studio. I slipped on a pair of slippers and went outside, not rushing. I stood in front of the large barn doors and took a deep breath. I opened it, and the memories flooded back. 

I walked in and flicked the lights on, filling the once-dark room. I looked around. Dust had started to settle on some of the furniture in the room. I walked to the covered piano and pulled off the sheet, revealing a large grand piano.

I exhaled shakily, on the verge of tears. I hadn't been in this room since mom died. It was a lot to unpack. I dragged my hands down it, dust sticking to my fingers, walking to the seat. I saw sheet music sitting on the chair, my mother's handwriting filling the pages. I sat down and opened the piano. 

"I'm so sorry, Mom." I said to the sky. "That I haven't been here." 

I took a moment to comprehend my feelings, before standing up and walking towards the studio. This should be easy enough, right? It was filled mostly with things from the old owners. 

I climbed the latter, looking around once I reached the top. A bass guitar stood in the corner, the strap decorated with rinestones. A electric piano was placed against the wall, and drum sticks were on a red bean bag chair. Then, I saw a cd. The cover read Sunset Curve. I reached forward and grabbed it, taking it down to my old cd player. 

A guitar riff started the song and I bopped my head along. Someone counted to three, then a guy started to sing: 

Take off,

last stop.

Count down till we blast open the top.

Face first, full charge.... 

Then the lyric were replaced by guys screaming. I flinched, not expecting it. I covered my ears, the noise becoming louder and louder. The empty room before me flashed, then three boys dropped to the group. I gasped. The guys groaned, screamed stopping.

They slowly stood up, gasping and coughing. "Whoa!" one of them said. They turned to face me, stretching and groaning still. "How did we get back here?" 

I screamed. They guys in front of her screamed. I ran out of the studio and ran into her dad. 

"Dad!" I yelled. 

"Whoa, hey! Whoa, slow down. You look like you've seen a ghost." 

"I have!" 

"Cool!" Carlos, my little brother, piped in. 

"Not cool!" I continued to run inside up to me bedroom. I hid behind a bean bag chair, poking my head up just enough to see out my window. I pulled out my phone and started to text Flynn. 911! "Come on, Flynn. 911 means 911! What aren't you answering me?" 

"Hey." Dad walked into my room. I turned, screaming once again.

"Dad." 

"Sorry. Just wanted to make sure you were okay." 

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"Honey, of course I do. Mijá, I see your mom all the time."

"This isn't like that." 

"I know. It's different for all of us."

"Dad. Your not listening to me, I saw something out there." I waved to my window which was facing the garage. 

"All, right. Ok. Ok." Dad sat down. "I'm listening. Tell me what you saw, it's just you and me here." 

I sighed. "You sound just like Dr. Turner." 

"Well, maybe seeing Dr. Turner again isn't such a bad idea." 

"Dad! Can we just drop it?" 

"All right." Dad stood up again. "Dropped. We good?" 

"Yeah." Dad smiled at me and we did our hands shake, him leaving without another word. I turned back to the window and creeped forward. I grabbed a cross of the wall, sticking it in front of me as I walked down the stairs, back out to the studio, getting weird stares from my brother. 

I waved the cross in front of me, peering in the studio. "You still here... what ever you are?" I walked in father but didn't see anything. I sighed, relaxing my arms. "I know I saw something. I'm not crazy." 

"Well, we're all a little crazy." A boy said. I turned around as fast as I could, sticking the cross out in front of me again. I started to scream. 

"Oh my god! Please stop screaming!" The blonde one asked, so I stopped.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in my moms studio?"

"Your moms studio? This is our studio. Trust me, my..." The boy walked around me, leaning back when I pushed the cross toward him. He slid across the top of the piano. "That grand piano is new, and... and... and... my couch!" The boy yelled, jumping onto a old leather sofa. 

The boy looked around. "That is definitely not my six string." He looked up and paused, thinking. "Can you give me just one second? Just...give me a second. Thank you." He walked toward the other boys, pulling them in close. They whispered for a moment before they turned back to look at me. 

The blonde one spoke. "Why are you in our studio?" I stuffed the cross to the blonde one, but it went right through him. 

"Oh my gosh! How did you do that!" 

"Clearly, your not understanding...She doesn't get it. Ok, look. We're ghosts, all right? We're just three ghosts, and we're really happy to be home. So, thanks you for the flowers. They really brighten up the room." 

"We're in a band, actually, called Sunset Curve." It was that boy again, the one with the couch. 

"Tell your friends." The leather jacket one spoke for the first time. 

"Last night was supposed to be a really big night for us. It was gonna change out life's." Couch spoke once again. 

"I'm, uh- I'm pretty sure it did." The blonde one whispered to Couch.

"This is freaking me out." I put the cross down and pulled out my phone, opening Google. I pushed the cross out again. 

"What is that? What are you doing?" Couch asked. 

"It's my phone. No! Stop taking to them, they aren't real. There's no such thing as cute ghosts." 

"Oh, so you thing we're cute?" Leather jacket tilted his head.

"Who you calling?" Blondie leaned forward, trying to look at my phone. 

"I'm googling Sunset Swerve." 

"It's Sunset Curve!" They all said at once.

"Whoa. There is a Sunset Curve. You did die, but not last night. Twenty five years ago?"

"What?" Leather jacket asked. "No. No, no, no. Th-th-that's impossible. After we floated out of the ambulance all we did was go to that weird dark room where Alex cried." 

Alex, the blonde one, had a high pictured voice as he spoke, cheeks turning a pale pink. "Well.... I don't think... I think we were all pretty upset. Ok." 

"But that was just for like an hour. We just showed up here."

"Look." I stuck my phone out to show the boys. "I'm just telling you what my phone says. See, you died in 1995 when you were 17. It's now 2020." 

Alex leaned away from the phone. "So, this is the future? Wait, so.....so, it's has been 25 years. I have been crying for 25 years! How is that possible?"

Leather jacket patted Alex on the shoulder. "Well, you're a very emotional person." 

"I am not!"

"Thought you were afraid to come out here." Carlos walked into the studio. The boys moved out of the way as if it mattered. "Talking to your ghost friend? How does he look? Is he hideous?"

Alex scoffed and turned to Leather Jacket. "He can see you." 

"No, he can't." I said, eyes widening. Carlos looked around. 

"What?" 

"Um.... what do you want?" 

"A normal sister, for starters. Stop being weird and come eat." Carlos walked away, arms crossed. 

"He couldn't see you." 

"Yeah, I mean, that's... usually how ghosts work." Alex responded. 

"Yeah." Leather Jacket nodded along. I sighed and walked towards the door. 

"Look, I'm very sorry for what happened to you guys but this isn't your studio anymore. You have to leave." I continued walking to the door." 

"But, wait!" The couch guy walked forward. "We didn't get your name." 

"It's Julie." 

"Cool. I-I'm Luke." He smiled. I put the cross up as he walked towards me. "By.....by the way. And this is-" 

"Reggie. I'm Reggie." Previously known as Leather Jacket said. "Hey." 

"And." Luke said, moving back towards his friends. 

"Alex. How's it going?" 

"Ba-da." Luke said softly, waving his arms towards the group. 

"Ok?" I asked, shaking my head. I continued to the door, hearing the boys mumbled behind me. 

I walked back into my house and sat at the table. Carlos was just placing a spot for our mom as I came in. 

"There we go!" My dad said, placing our dinner on the table. "Ok. Let's do this." 

"Let's do it." I smiled, sitting down. We put our hands our for prayer. 

"Your turn Carlos." 

"Thank you for our leftovers and the power of the mighty microwave. Amen." 

"Amen." I said. We pulled away and started to eat, Dad putting spaghetti on my plate. 

"So... Carlos tells me he found you in the studio." 

"She was out there talking to her self." 

"I was rehearing for a play."

"Hello, hello!" My Tia's voice rang through the house, the front door closing behind her. 

"Oh, busted!" Carlos and I reached forward to move our moms spot, hiding it under the table. 

"Yeah, we're in here!" My dad yelled back to her. "Quick!" 

"Spaghetti. Again?" 

"Yeah." 

"That's too bad. I brought you my pasteles and arroz con pollo." 

"Yum. Thanks, Tia. It smells great." I said. talking through a mouth full of food. 

"You can have it tomorrow. I can't let you have leftovers every night." Tia Victoria opened the fridge and placed her food inside. "My sister would kill me, may she rest in peace. Oh... I see things are going better?" 

"Actually, Julie had been cleaning out moms studio. Hopefully, we can get the house on the market and some offers soon." 

"Well, I like the sound of that. Moving from here is only gonna help you move on. Got to rip that Band-Aid off and get the pain over with." 

Just then I looked up and saw Alex, Luke, and Reggie standing in front of my front door. I yelled and the boys stopped moving but everyone stared at me. 

"That's me, ripping off the band-aid. Aah!" Carlos smiled. 

"There's my brave girl!" Tia leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. 

"Hey, Julie, I really like what you guys did with the place." Luke said, standing beside me. 

"You shouldn't be here!" Tia gasped, thinking it was aimed at her. 

"Oh, I'm just here to help, mija." 

"Uh, I think that's our cue to leave." Alex whispered.

"I mean, you should be at Pilates. Thanks for bringing us food!" 

Tia hugged me. Reggie whispered behind me, "We should've called first." 

"It's nothing. And now that your no longer in the music program, you can concentrate on classes that matter." My dad and brother stared at me. "You got the email from the school, right?" 

"Yeah. We're still discussing it." 

"Bueno. I'm off to Pilates. Mwah." Tia blew a kiss to Carlos, who hit it with a imaginary baseball bat.

Tia kissed the back of head then left, her high heels hitting the wood floor boards. 

"So, Julie, wanna head how I slid into home and was almost safe?" Carlos asked. 

"Your a good brother. That's not gonna work." Dad said. He snapped his fingers and pointed to the stairs. 

"I tried." Carlos headed up the stairs. 

"Why didn't you tell me? You made me lie to your aunt." 

"Sorry. I was gonna tell you after dinner."

"Yeah, mmhm."

"I was."

"Honey, I know those classes can be difficult, but you still like music, don't you?" 

"I dont know, maybe." 

"Look, we talked about this, you know? And how painful memories can be, but-" Dad took a deep breath. "You know, every time I see you and Carlos, I see Mom. It's like she's right here with us. But you know what? I love that. I do. And maybe if you'd give yourself a chance, you'll get there." 

We sat in silence until rock music started to play. Carlos walked down stairs and asked. "What's that?"

"I must have left the stereo on in the garage. I'll go get it." I quickly left. When I opened the garage door the boys were playing their instruments. I walked into front of them, my slippers bouncing. 

"Guys! Guys, stop! Enough, cut it out!" Luke did a guitar riff while the other stopped playing. 

"The whole neighborhood could hear you. I thought I told you to leave." 

"Wait. People can here us play?" Luke asked. 

"Yes! And so did my dad and my brother!"

"W-w-wait. Wait. So, only you can see us, but everyone can hear us?" Alex stood up from behind the drum set. "I mean, what kind of ghosts are we?" 

"Who cares, man. People can here is play!" Luke fist-bumped his friends. 

"We might be dead, but our music isn't!" Reggie smiled. Just then my dad walked in. 

"Dad." 

"Hey. Just making sure you you're ok."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had to turn of the CD player."

"Wait, is this the junk that was in the loft?" 

"Junk?" Luke looked offended, I could've laughed. My dad walked around it and patted the drums.

"Some of this stuff is in pretty good shape. Hey, maybe we could make a couple bucks." 

"What! Stop touching my drums. Tell him to stop touching my drums!" 

"I like that song you had on." 

"Sweet!" Luke cheered. "We're sunset curve!" 

"Tell your friends." Reggie clicked his tongue.

"It's just an old CD I found."

"Well, still, it's nice that your listening to music again. Out here you can play whatever you want, when you want." 

"Oh. That's nice." Reggie smiled.

"Stay out of this." I spat at him.

"I-I'm sorry, honey, I didn't..."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Not you. I mean....umm...er.... You know, give me a minute." I walked forward to my dad and pulled him outside. 

"Hey, hey, hey, hey. We'll figure this music program thing."

"Thanks, Dad". He turned to leave as I turned back to the band.

"He likes out song." Reggie laughed as Luke spoke. 

"Oh, yeah, he doesn't count. He's a dad." Alex whispered. 

"Why can't you guys just be normal ghosts? Hang out in a old mansion. I heard Pasadena's nice!" I turned and shut the garage door. I started to head up the path to my back door when Luke pooped up in front of me. 

"Ah! Stop that. I'm serious." 

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"What do you want?"

"I know this is all completely insane, but you do know how rad this is? People- actual people can hear us play."

"Yeah, it's just I've just had a really, really, awful day. I gotta go." I tried to walk past Luke but he started to talk again. 

"Well, I'm sorry you had a bad day, but three guys just found out that they had a bad 25 years. And then they found out that the one thing they lived for i the first place they can still do. That's pretty rad."

"Your right. It's just-" 

"Your bad day. Yeah, I know." Luke turned to leave but decided he had one more thing to say. "Look, I'm sorry we came into your life. But- what I just felt in there actually made me feel alive again. We all felt alive again. So, you can kick us out if you want, but we're not giving up music. We can play again. That's a gift no musician would ever turn down. You gotta know that. Clearly your mom is into music." 

"Was. She passed away."

"I am- so sorry."

"Yeah, we didn't know." I turned to see Alex and Reggie standing on the pavement beside the stairs. 

I sighed. "It's all right. You guys haven't seen her anywhere, have you? From where ever your from." 

"Um. No, no. I mean, your kinda the first person we've seen." 

"Yeah, but she's not dead, so it doesn't answer her question." Reggie corrected Alex. 

"Yeah, I think she know what we mean. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks. Sorry I got mad. You guys are kinda good." 

"Kinda?" Luke looked offended again. "Y-y-you know that's like 25 years of rust just getting dusted off." 

"Yeah. Do you play the piano too?" Reggie asked. 

"No. No, I don't play." I lied. "That was my  
moms stuff in there." 

"No way. She's an a amazing songwriter." Luke pointed out.

"She was. Wait, how would you know?" 

"There's a song on the piano. If it's hers... Your mom was really talented." 

I nodded my head and walked but the stairs but stopped before getting to far, turned back to the boys. "I guess, if you need a place to stay, you can stay in there." I pointed the the garage. "There's a bath room in the back, and a couch that turns into a bed if you still use any of that stuff." 

"Dibs on the shower!" Reggie stuck his hand up in the air. We gave him a funny look. "I just really like showers, and the occasional bath." 

"This, is just too weird." I headed through the gate back to my house, leaving the boys behind. I went upstairs and texted Flynn after getting into some PJ's. 

"What would you say if I told you that their were three ghosts living in my moms studio?" I spoke as I typed. "You'd say I'm crazy." I deleted the message and dropped my phone on my bed. I felt my ring finger itch so I pulled my hand up and I saw a pale lime forming. 

"What-" I mumbled to my self. I looked closer, not believing it, yet it was there. I smiled, maybe it was time? I shook my head, not wanting to get my hopes up and went to bed, but all night my mind was racing with 'what if?'

The next morning I walked out to the garage, backpack flung over my shoulder. As I walked into the garage I looked around to if the boys were home, but they weren't. I placed my bag on the couch and walked farther into the garage. 

"Guys?" I asked, making sure they weren't there. "Guys?" 

I walked forward to the piano and sat down. I positioned my moms sheet music out in front of me. I opened the piano and placed my hands on the cool keys. For the first time in a year I actually played a key, then started to follow along with the sheet music in front of me. 

I started to sing, the lyrics pouring out as if I knew them by hand. The keys filled the room, flowing in the air. The lyrics were about finding your self and not letting stuff put you down. 

My mom had wrote it for me a while before she died. I felt the sun hit my back and I'm sure my dad was waiting for me, but at this point in time I didn't care. 

I was finally playing music again, singing loudly. Sure, my voice was a bit hoarse but who cares? I belted put the lyrics, and by the time the song was over my fingers and found their spot, flying through the cords. I sighed as I finished the last lyric, the piano echoing. I lifted up the last music sheet and read the note my mom wrote: Julie, you can do it. Love Mom. I held it close to my chest as tears fell down my face. 

Today was the day that changed everything.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Creative criticism is greatly appreciated! Stay tuned for the next part!


End file.
